Patricia Rothfuss, who won fight with Peekskill to keep her Donkey Oatie, has died

Patricia Rothfuss, a former Peekskill resident who gained the national spotlight for battling the city over her family’s pet donkey, has died in Massachusetts.

Her son, Barry Rothfuss, who runs a wildlife rehabilitation center in New Brunswick, Canada, contacted The Journal News to report his mother’s passing.

Peekskill authorities in February 1983 served Patricia Rothfuss with summonses after a neighbor complained about the animal, which was named Donkey Oatie. Former Gov. George Pataki was mayor at the time. The family went to court and eventually won the right to keep Donkey Oatie. The animal died in 2007 at Barry Rothfuss’ center.

Robert Brum, assistant metro editor for Northern Westchester and Putnam, joined The Journal News in 1991. He was a copy editor in the paper's Harrison newsroom and night city editor in the Yonkers/Mount Vernon bureau before working in the Rockland newsroom from 1998 to 2011. He is now the local editor for the Putnam-Northern Westchester bureau. A graduate of Ramapo High School and SUNY Brockport, Brum lives in Westchester.